Celtics-Wizards Preview

Posted Jan 25 2016 10:33AM

The Boston Celtics have had the Washington Wizards' number this season, and the last meeting featured an incident that could be revisited when these teams complete the season series.

Celtics forward Jae Crowder claimed that Wizards coach Randy Wittman cursed at him the last time these teams met heading into Monday night's matchup that is still in some doubt due to the massive snowstorm that blanketed the nation's capital.

Boston (24-21) can complete a four-game sweep of Washington after winning 119-117 on the road Jan. 16, in a game overshadowed by an incident between Crowder and Wittman.

The Celtics held a four-point lead with 22 seconds left and the Wizards, who played without Bradley Beal, had John Wall at the line for three free throws. Wall missed his first attempt before referee Tony Brothers whistled Crowder for a technical foul.

Crowder immediately pointed toward Wittman while arguing with Brothers, and later told reporters Wittman was on the other end of those remarks.

"I feel like he was getting away with a lot of curse words and inappropriate words to me, and I retaliated and I got hit," Crowder said. "Tony said he didn't hear anything from Wittman. I'm not going to outburst on a coach and say something like that for no reason."

Wittman had already spoken to the media that night and said in subsequent days that he yelled at Crowder, but denied using curse words. Crowder said that he was arguing with Washington's Nene before he got involved with Wittman.

"He (Wittman) was saying something about me being soft and bleep, bleep, bleep hitting me on the John Wall foul," Crowder said. "It's new to me. I understand we play them next week. I honestly don't know where it was coming from."

Crowder had 22 points on a night that the star for Boston was Isaiah Thomas, who scored 32 after totaling 37 in the first two meetings as the Celtics won by an average of 26.5 points.

The last matchup was much closer thanks to Wall, who had a season-high 36 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. Wall has a team-high six technical fouls.

"I think there was a lot of woofing going on throughout the whole game," Wall said. "I'm just trying to compete and I didn't want to get another technical. I got enough this year."

Washington (20-21) may be disadvantaged since it hasn't played since a 106-87 win over Miami on Wednesday. The club practiced Friday before its game the next day against Utah was postponed due to the storm.

Boston may be sharper after crushing Philadelphia 112-92 on Sunday in a game pushed back one day because of the weather. Thomas and Crowder each scored 20 points as the Celtics led by as many as 29.

"I thought our guys were pretty locked in today," coach Brad Stevens said. "We talked about playing with force all day, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that."

The Celtics arrived at Philadelphia on Sunday morning after the city's airport was closed the previous day.

"Obviously, that wasn't ideal but I thought our guys were businesslike in our approach," Stevens said.

The Wizards' Otto Porter could return from a four-game absence due to a hip injury while fellow forward Drew Gooden might play for the first time in four games after being out with a calf issue.

Copyright 2016 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Thomas lights up Wizards as Celtics win 3rd straight, 116-91

By STEPHEN WHYNOPosted Jan 25 2016 11:08PM

Against John Wall and the Washington Wizards, Thomas darted and dazzled all over the court, leading the Celtics to a 116-91 blowout Monday night. Thomas scored a game-high 23 points and added nine assists in three quarters of action as the Celtics held Wall in check to sweep the season series.

Going up against Wall motivated Thomas, though it was the kind of performance the Celtics (25-21) have become accustomed to from their pint-sized point guard.

"You always are excited when you're a guy like Isaiah who's got a chip on his shoulder to challenge himself against the best," Stevens said. "But I think Isaiah's pretty consistent regardless of who we're playing in how he approaches every night. ... He's got a nice swagger about him, but he also respects the game and respects everybody. But certainly you get excited to play against guys like John Wall."

Thomas earned an All-Star endorsement from Wizards coach Randy Wittman before the game and spent the next few hours showing why. It didn't matter the matchup, as Thomas' jump shot and drive game were working.

In the locker room following Boston's third straight victory, a teammate said of Thomas, "Get that man to the All-Star Game."

"I just for some reason play well against these guys," said Thomas, who averages 23 points per game against the Wizards. "I don't know what it is, but I just go out there and play and let the ball fall where it may."

The ball fell plenty for the Celtics, as five other players scored in double figures. Evan Turner had 18 points, Kelly Olynyk and Marcus Smart scored 13 apiece, and Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder 11.

As much praise as there was for Thomas and the Celtics' balanced attack, the Wizards (20-22) weren't pleased with how the game slipped away after a back-and-forth first half that featured 14 lead changes. The second half was all Boston.

"It's an embarrassing loss," said forward Jared Dudley, who scored 15 points. "I think guys (have) got to start looking at themselves in the mirror. I know we're trying to do everything the right way. Guys are playing hard, you're not questioning them like that, but overall we have to take it up another notch. And to lose that type of game (with) three, four days off, I think it's unacceptable."

Wall had just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting after scoring 36 against the Celtics in their previous meeting.

Stopping Wall and the Wizards in transition was a major focus.

"We just tried to wear him down, try to cut the head off the snake early," Smart said. "He's the one that gets them going in transition, pushing the ball with his speed and his creating ability. We just tried to limit that and make the other guys beat us from outside."

SNOW PROBLEM

The Celtics had plenty of energy despite having their game scheduled for Saturday in Philadelphia pushed to Sunday. The Wizards hadn't played in five days because their game against Utah was postponed.

With many roads in the city still unplowed and mass transit limited, Verizon Center was about half full with an official attendance of 11,753. One fan who braved the roads to get there was forward Andre Burakovsky of the NHL's Capitals, who had two home games postponed by snow.

TIP-INS

Celtics: Boston improved to 8-3 in the second half of back-to-back games this season. ... The weather-affected stretch of three games in four days "feels like AAU again" to Smart. ... Crowder said he and Wizards F Drew Gooden patched things up after a hard foul in the fourth quarter. ... F Otto Porter scored 15 points after missing four games with a sore right hip.

Wizards: G Bradley Beal took a forearm to the face from Smart in the second quarter and did not return. Wittman said Beal was going through concussion protocol. ... Gooden entered in garbage time, returning from a three-game absence because of a sore left calf. ... F Nene was assessed a flagrant 1 foul in the fourth quarter for hitting Smart in the face.

UP NEXT

Celtics: Host Denver on Wednesday.

Wizards: At Toronto on Tuesday.

Copyright 2016 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited